Football news

The head coach of Rukh Lviv, Vitaliy Ponomaryov, explained why the Lviv club was unable to delegate 6 players to the Ukrainian Olympic team.

"I spoke to a representative of Rotan's staff and explained our position. Each of the young players had a tremendous physical and psychological burden during the season. For example, while experienced bison such as Pikhalonok, Svatok and Hutsulyak always play alongside Rubchynskyi at Dnipro-1, we have young guys like them alongside Slyubyk and Kvasnytsia. They have played a tough season, now they have to go to a foreign tournament without rest, and on 24 June we start preparing for the championship. When do they have time to rest, and most importantly, to get treatment?

The problem is that each of the five main players (Slyubyk, Didyk, Roman, Sych, Kvasnytsia) played with old injuries, some of which can develop into chronic ones and require systemic treatment. We wanted to release the recalled Slyusar, but he was also injured in the Dynamo game. It was decided to send Fedir to the Olympic team - he played less than his teammates and is relatively healthy.

I would like to emphasise that we will be happy and honoured to call any of our players to any national team, let alone to the Olympics. I think the national team coaches are well aware of the capabilities of most of them. There can be no obstacles on our part. The main thing is that everyone is fresh and healthy. I want to cool down the hotheads who have already allowed themselves to accuse us of almost sabotage in the media. Before making accusations, you need to have perfect information about the physical condition of young players, their psycho-emotional and general health. And it is the club coaches and doctors who have the perfect information on this. And I want to assure everyone that this decision was made solely in the interests of the players and their future careers. And in the interests of the Olympic team. I am convinced that the players called up for this tournament will be well prepared for the Olympics and will be able to help the national team," Ponomarev told TaToTake.

Doctor of Philology and linguist Iryna Farion expressed her opinion on the mobilisation of footballers.

- Do you think professional footballers should be drafted during the war?

- There is Article 65 in the Constitution of Ukraine. Defence of the Fatherland is a constitutional duty of every man, and it doesn't matter whether he is a footballer or not. As far as I know, 95th Kvartal jesters and circus actors are booked in Ukraine. But at the same time, there are many people from this field who could have been booked, but they went to war. It's a matter of honour. If people understand what honour is, they go to war primarily to protect their family and children.

- But during the war, many famous athletes glorify Ukraine abroad and donate to the Armed Forces. Won't they do more good in this way than they would at the front, since they have never held a weapon in their hands?

- Donations are one thing, and human resources are quite another. Soon, there will be no one to keep the weapons at zero. My son-in-law has been there for a long time and I hear what the guys say: "What good are these donations if there are no people to use them soon?" There is no need to buy yourself off from your direct constitutional duty.

Only those men who have certain health concerns or are not suitable for the age category cannot fight. Ukraine's glory will come only when we win on the battlefield. Judging by what is happening in the information space now, we are being prepared for a terrible and savage surrender.

What is it worth when a hidden coven of "good Russians" takes place in Lviv? "Good Russians" can only be in a black bag. This meeting means that there are certain agreements to bring us to friendship with our "brothers".

So in this case, what will our athletes glorify Ukraine with - a ball or a boxing glove? It makes no difference. The Poles don't have a strong football team, but Poland is prospering, having a very strong voice in the European union! At the same time, the Poles are preparing and militarising their country.

Do not be under the illusion that sport brings glory to a country. Today, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine brings glory to Ukraine! And before, neither a teacher nor a priest could do this. That's why there was a war with the church, because Moscow priests were brought here, and a war with teachers because of the destruction of the education system. Degenerates, ignorant people, plagiarists and ugly people were appointed as ministers of education. I mean Lisovyi, Kvit, Hrynevych, Tabachnyk. These people worked to destroy education. This does not bring glory to our country. When we win, then we will play football.

Andriy Piskun

As Sport.ua has learnt, Brazilian striker De (Cledson Carvalho da Silva) is leaving Oleksandriya, where he was playing on loan.

"I will not return to Oleksandriya," the player told Sport.ua. "But I also don't know yet whether I will continue to play for Mariehamn (De has a contract with the Finnish club until the end of 2024 - ed.) This issue will be resolved later, I'm on holiday now."

In January of this year, 26-year-old De was loaned by Oleksandriya from Mariehamn with an option to buy. The forward played only 6 league games for the Ukrainian club (156 minutes in total), without scoring a goal.

"At the end of the season, Oleksandriya finished 8th in the UPL with 34 points.

Last week, the club announced the termination of the contract with Ecuadorian midfielder Julio Madison, who signed a contract with the Citizens in January until May 2026, but was only included in the team's application for official matches five times, without making his debut.

For Dynamo Kyiv, the position of striker was very important for a long time. Their own school could not produce a forward for the first team. Probably the last one was Artem Milevskyi. And then there was no one for more than 10 years.

Read completely →

Former Ukraine national team striker Ivan Getsko shared his opinion on the match of the final, 30th round of the Ukrainian championship between Lviv Ruh and Dynamo Kyiv (1:2), which took place last Saturday in Lviv.

"I think that the result of this match by the game. After all, Dynamo did not do what Shakhtar did. The coaching staff of the Kyiv team did not disband the main squad on holiday, but kept it until the finish of the championship and played against Ruh.

"Dynamo" showed that they are on a good run and that they are doing well. The victory in Lviv once again showed that before the next season Dynamo have ambitions and the task to regain the title of the champion of Ukraine.

As for Rukh, it is a young team, which today dictates a serious philosophy in Ukrainian football and where there is a good school and future. The club has quite a few players that we haven't heard and don't know yet. They have not become stars yet, but they give good and meaningful football in UPL for today.

"Rukh" is the future of Ukrainian football, and this is unequivocal. I am more than sure that this club has a good prospect, because there is a lot of hard work. I am pleased to see that it brings its fruits and results," UA-Football quotes Getsko as saying.

Spanish club Espanyol are interested in Dynamo Kyiv defender Konstantin Vivcharenko, AS reports.

It is reported that if "Espanyol" at the end of the current season will be able to solve the problem of entering the Primera, the club will try to buy the 21-year-old Dynamo player. According to the source, Vivcharenko has long been in the focus of attention of Espanyol sporting director Fran Garagarsa.

We would like to add that there is one round left in the Segunda (the second ranked Spanish division) of the current season. "Espanyol" has no chance to get a direct ticket to the Primera, but guaranteed itself participation in the semifinals of the playoffs for the right to enter the elite division (now the team is in 4th place).

Head coach of Cherkasy LNZ Oleg Dulub admitted that he does not know yet whether he will stay in his post.

"For now I want to rest, and my career prospects will be determined by the decision of the club leaders. LNZ has reserved the right to decide on the extension or termination of the contract, which is concluded on a 1+1 scheme. So far the agreement is valid until 30 June. Well, I repeat, I just want to rest for now, because the year has been hard, a lot of things need to be analysed.

I can only say that I am not in favour of one-sided love. As in marriage, there should be mutual desire. Whether the club wants it, I don't know... In nine months we have done a huge piece of work, created a completely new team, and, you could say, we did it twice - in late summer and winter - and fulfilled the tournament goal. But what will happen next, I can't even imagine," Dulub said in a commentary to the Telegram channel "Oh, Sport! You are the world!".

Dnipro 1 defender Eduard Sarapiy briefly summarised his team's performance in the Ukrainian championship season-2023/24.

"In general, we are satisfied with the season, as we fulfilled the set task, but we realise that we could have taken a place higher than fourth. Always want to fight for medals, not just for getting into Europe," - quotes Sarapiy telegram channel "Dnipryanin".

Dnipro-1 midfielder Maksym Tretyakov has promised that, unlike many of his teammates, he will not leave the team this summer.

- I had the most serious injury in my career so far. So I can't say that I'm in optimal condition. I plan to go through a full training camp with the team and need game practice. My contract is valid for two more seasons, so I plan to fulfil it," Tretyakov said in an interview with the Dniproynik Telegram channel.

President of Polissia Gennadiy Butkevych, after the appointment of Imad Ashour as the team's new head coach, told us what tasks he will be given.

- "Of course, the tasks will be set as high as possible, and first of all, I can say that I will set these tasks for myself. I understand that the question of the result will not go away and that the result will always be the most important and relevant issue, but I think that if you are as immersed in the training process as possible, if you prove and convince everyone involved that the most important part of this process is to be immersed in every moment. Trying to win every episode, every single game, will lead to the results with the highest probability. The outcome is not in our hands, but what we do to achieve it and how we want to play is in our hands," Butkevich said.

UAF President Andriy Shevchenko on the end of the Ukrainian Premier League season and the big football summer of 2024.

- It is very important that the championship is over, the Cup is over. But even in a state of war, we continue to play football, we set an example for all countries.

I was just recently at the United24 summit, at the FIFA Congress, and everyone is asking if we play football. This is our great victory, because not only do people play football in Ukraine, but I think we have a very interesting football summer ahead of us: our national team will start in the group stage of Euro 2024, which will be held in Germany, and our youth team and our Olympic team will also play.

It is also important that our clubs play good football, and you can see how intriguing the intrigue was at the end of the championship. Congratulations to those who won a ticket to the European Cups. I wish them to show good results, because these are points for Ukraine. And this is very important," Shevchenko said.

"Shakhtar are planning to sell midfielder Georgy Sudakov after Euro 2024, British journalist Ben Jacobs reports on his Twitter page.

It is reported that Shakhtar will wait until after Euro 2024 to receive the most offers for Sudakov from all interested clubs, as the club believes that the performance of the Ukrainian national team will help to increase the price of the midfielder.

It is known that Shakhtar will agree to let Sudakov go if the offer reaches around €70 million.

As a reminder, Transfermarkt values Sudakov at €25 million.